Gory context of “28 Weeks Later”:
Society has plunged into a horrendous crisis where a part of the population has been transformed into raving mad creatures upon having been infected by some horrible transmuting virus (read: biological weapon). The hostile creatures ravage across the land trying to infect, by means of biting or vomiting, all the uninfected humans who come in their way.

Because of the severity of the national emergency situation, the country (UK) has transformed itself into a full blown police state, in which the military has totally usurped the task of the police and the rights of the people seem to have been totally obliterated.

Thematic PP elements:

Surveillance cameras everywhere (at least in downtown areas), with military snipers doing the extra bit of surveillance through their rifle scopes. This programs the public to accept and get used to all the cameras snooping all over the place as well as the presence of military walking about everywhere and interfering with everyone. The sniper surveillance part seems to serve to instill some extra fear into the public.

There’s a mention of a presence of refugee camps and so-called “containment areas” (quarantine areas). This programs the public to get used to being herded as cattle and to accept living in camps or confined emergency spaces overseen by the military.

Streets are deserted, shops abandoned, there’s lots of garbage, and a blatant lack of hygiene and thus the city is depicted as being in a general dystopian mess. Images of chaos and discord such as these, seem to instill fear into the public in case a viral epidemic should break out. More programming of futuristic dormant terror on the plates of the public.

Suggested PP elements:

Because of their utter indiscriminate, remorseless and extreme hostility, people sick by viral infection should not only be shunned literally like the plague but also be destroyed where ever and whenever possible. This programs the public, on the basis of fear, to prepare to part from family and loved ones once they get infected and sick. In addition, the communicated severity of the situation helps to generate acute antipathy of the uninfected towards the infected and sick.

Those people infected but who haven’t actually become sick should be shunned as well, since they may make one sick through biting or spewing blood-vomit or even simply by kissing. This programs the viewer to prepare to part from friends and loved ones who are infected but who haven’t manifested the accompanying disease (yet).

Because the military has difficulty in distinguishing between ‘friendlies’ (uninfected) and ‘targets’ (infected), just to be on the ‘safe side’, the military command decides to open fire on both parties. The public will thus be programmed to keep a distance from the infected even more so lest being confused for a ‘target’ by trigger happy military marksmen.

I’m less sure about the next one, but here we go – for completeness’ sake. The life in the inner city gets totally obliterated by incendiary bombs. This may instill fear into the part of the public living in crowded cities (at least, downtown) during times of crises and emergencies.

Needless to say, the conclusion is that this is a particularly antipathetic movie towards those of us who may get infected by viral agents in the future.